BATTLE OF THE NPR CORRECTIONS

Jan. 27, 2005:
MoMA Embroiled in Battle over Painting Seized by Nazis
Morning Edition, Dec. 27, 2004

In a story on All Things Considered on Dec. 27, we reported on the controversy over ownership of a painting on loan to the Museum of Modern Art. NPR failed to make clear that the artwork is not in the possession of the museum. In fact, the painting is in the custody of the federal government. In addition, we said the museum opposed a Jewish family's efforts to recover the painting, "Portrait of Wally," by Egon Schiele. However, we did not report the museum's statement, made to NPR, that it had never taken a position on the question of the painting's ownership. Finally, NPR failed to give the museum an opportunity to answer allegations in our story about its motivations and actions in the dispute over the painting's ownership.

That has been boiled down to this on the story's page:

Correction: The government, not the museum, has custody of the artwork. The museum says it took no position on the question of the painting's ownership. NPR failed to give the museum a chance to answer allegations about its motivations and actions.

The fact that MoMA has taken a position in a court of law, arguing that the Jewish family has no legal basis for an ownership claim -- as D'Arcy's own story, quoting several experts, pointed out -- seems not to have registered with NPR's chief of corrections. Nor has this.